Never Again
by Allen's Matchmaker
Summary: Ladybug dies in the final battle with Hawk Moth without Chat Noir ever knowing who she really is. The world is already plunged into darkness. As Adrien mourns in the chaos around him, Plagg and Tikki have already decided to use their last remaining powers to send Adrien's memories back in time. Armed with his new-found knowledge, Adrien sets out to save the world and his lady.
1. Table of Contents

Plot Bunny: Ladybug dies in the final battle with Hawk Moth without Chat Noir ever knowing who she really is. The world is already plunged into darkness. As Adrien tries saving his dying lady, Plagg and Tikki decide to use their last remaining powers to send Adrien's memories back in time. Armed with his new-found knowledge, Adrien sets out to save the world and his lady.

 **Table of Contents:**

Chapter 1: Table of Contents

Chapter 2: Water and Determination

Chapter 3: Storms and Sentimentality

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Why Table of Contents?

In the mobile version, the names of each chapter are not shown. Thus, I have lots of experience trying to go back to a specific chapter with a vague idea of the chapter's name or number but just can't find it either way. This way, it's easier for everyone to go and look back for a chapter. Will be doing this for other stories. When I update them.


	2. Water and Determination

Plot Bunny: Ladybug dies in the final battle with Hawk Moth without Chat Noir ever knowing who she really is. The world is already plunged into darkness. As Adrien tries to save his dying lady, Plagg and Tikki decide to use their last remaining powers to send Adrien's memories back in time. Armed with his new-found knowledge, Adrien sets out to save the world and his lady.

Warnings: Angsty (mostly in beginning), the story will get lighter. Some really off character people, and general chaos. Some parts are not accurate but were done on purpose (most of the time) to move the story along (like multiple akumas at a time), etc. For full list, visit Archive of Our Own and look for this story.

I would like to own Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir, but I don't. (sigh)

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For anyone who knows of my work in D. Gray-Man, I'm making heaps of changes with Noah of Cycle. And I haven't abandoned the fics! This thing just kept bugging me while I was re-writing the chapters for NOC, so here it is...

* * *

 **Chapter 2: Water and Determination**

"Ladybug! Ladybug!" Chat jumped to the next roof but bolted immediately to the adjacent building when the ceiling crumbled in. Where was she? Even his baton's GPS hadn't been able to track his partner. Last he had seen her, she had been fighting two akumatized victims at once-he, himself, was fighting just as much. Looking at the blazing sky line, Chat couldn't help but wonder; how could so much chaos happen in such a short amount of time?

The attack had been as unexpected as it was expected. Hawk Moth had been quiet for a whole month, and it had set Chat and his lady on edge. They knew he was planning something big-enough to set a new record. They had been prepared for it, or so they thought. Friday had started out just as peaceful as the rest of the week until Adrien had walked out with Nathalie to hear screams of terror. He had hidden just in time to see dozens of akuma spreading out in the street.

 _Beep. Beep. Beep._ His baton lit up.

"My lady!" An explosion boomed through the call.

"Chat! I need your help! Hawk Moth's here in front of Notre Dame!" His partner is running, dodging other akumatized victims as they chased her.

"Purr-fect! I won't be long, My Lady! I'm claws by!"

He doesn't hear her groan as Chat turns and heads for the church just to his right.

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TIME SKIP (will be revealed in later chapters)

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"No!"

Chat Noir's eyes widened. _No!_ He watched the distinct red and black suit of his partner slide into the black river. Even when he was running to save her, he could see red blood tainting the river.

"Ladybug!" Chat jumps off the bridge and into the freezing currents. The water was cold enough to make him gasp in surprise, but he quickly stifles it. His fingers desperately try to grasp her sinking body.

The water shines red for a second, the bright flash of a de-transformation. He cannot see her clearly, eyes blurry with all the water; but he definitely sees a red blob floating up the water. It hits him in the chest with an _oof!_ Chat grabs it but vainly attempts to follow down the civilian body of his Ladybug. _No! No!_ He breaks out of the surface long enough to hear Hawk Moth bellow of rage.

"No! You fool! I needed her Miraculous!"

It's all he hears before he is sucking in air and diving again. He is diving, but he can no longer spot where Ladybug had sunk. _He can't see her._ He furiously swims in the direction he last saw her.

No. No. No.

 _Please no._

He runs out of air. He swims up, breathes, dives.

 _No._

He doesn't know how long he has been doing this. By now, he knows that Hawk Moth has ordered his army of akumatized victims to search for his and Ladybug's bodies in the river.

Chat-Adrien-refuses to give up, but eventually, even his raging, pounding adrenaline runs out.

 _No._

 _Ladybug._

He feels sluggish, but he fights it. He fights it with a deafening cry. Chat's body is pulled back by the currents, forced into the depths of cold waters. The merciless river callously wipes away all traces of his tears.

All the remains of his failure to save his partner, his beloved bug, his friend, _his lady_ , is his own heavy body drowning in the dark waters.

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He wants to die. He had **thought** he was dead. But when he wakes up coughing harshly on the concrete miles away from where he- _Ladybug_ -jumped off- _fell drowned shot bled_ -Adrien can't think of anything more than he needs to die. He should've been the one who got hit.

In the end, it should have been Adrien who died.

Not Ladybug.

Never Ladybug.

" _Chat!"_

 _He had heard her call. But he had been too late. A red and black yoyo wraps around his raised arm and hurls him away from the ring of akumatized victims. He turns his head just enough to see a burning bullet fly past right where Chat had been standing and-!_

… _Adrien green eyes bulge out in shock._

 _The bullet._

 _It rams straight into Ladybug, who was a few meters behind him when she moved him._

 _She had left herself vulnerable to save him._

" _C-Chat…" A weak choking sound escapes her, and then she is falling._

 _Her body lands heavily on the ground, a little too close to the river's edge. Red pools gather on the stones beneath her chest. The world slows down, and watering blue bell eyes finds him._

" _Chaton."_

 _Then she was slipping._

" _No!"_

 _Somewhere in the back of his mind, he hears a cackle. It's a laugh much more terrifying than any akuma victim he and Ladybug had ever faced._

" _I shot a bug! I shot a bug!"_

He hadn't been strong enough.

No.

This can't be happening. Ladybug.

No.

Something warm dripping down his cheeks, and a lump forms in his throat. He slams his gloved fist on the pavement.

He wants to jump back into the river and begin searching again.

" _Whoa, kitty, kitty. You better think before you leap."_

His memories fall with the salty tears.

No one to tell him not to jump now. He remembers her confident smile and her twinkling blue bell eyes. Something stabs his heart, and he wants to do nothing less than hit his head on the concrete over and over until he finally joins her on the other side.

Hours in his misery, it stirs again-and Adrien wants to ignore it. Something shifts on his chest, but it stops quickly.

"Ch-chat..." He nearly misses the feeble whisper.

"Chat… We need...to go." What? He blearily looks down to the red bundle that had slammed into him while he was trying-failing-to save Ladybug. It moved, shivering slightly. A kwami-a ladybug kwami- _Ladybug's_ kwami.

Oh no. The thought brings a fresh round of tears streaking down his face.

"Ladybug…"

"Ch-chat… change back…" The tiny creature shudders, coughing a little. "Change… back… M-more… dangerous..."

"What?" He cradles the creature.

"Change… back…"

Some part of Adrien doesn't agree-but for the lack of a better idea, heeds as asked.

"Plagg…" He coughs. "Claws in."

He is grateful that, at the very least, his civilian clothes were dry.

"Tikki!" Plag exhaustedly throws himself at the ladybug kwami.

"Plagg…." The kwami cries. "She… She's-" _She's dead._

"Sshh…." Plagg is surprisingly gentle. Adrien's kwami is hugging the distraught ladybug.

"Plagg…" The red kwami looks up to Adrien with glazed wet eyes. "Adrien Agreste…"

He doesn't wonder how Ladybug's kwami knows him-they had never met. Then again… it didn't matter now.

"...We need... To… move…" Adrien wants to stay, he wants to wallow in his grief and let it consume him. Plag apparently had different ideas.

"Come on, kid." He had never seen his kwami so serious. "We need to hide, and I know just where to go."

Adrien staggers to his feet. He settles the unconsciousness red kwami into one of his pockets and stumbles all the way into a certain Chinese Master's home.

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"Wayzz! Wayzz!" Plagg is calling out furiously, knocking raptly on a wooden door.

"Plagg!" A green blur flies to the cat kwami and embraces him. "You're alright!"

Adrien takes this all in in silence. He doesn't wonder who the turtle kwami is bonded to; he doesn't wonder why he isn't more curious. He doesn't wonder anything. He has cut himself off from his grief, but at the same time, he has shut down his other feelings. He doesn't need them anymore, he briefly thinks.

"Adrien Agreste." This time, instead of the blank shadow adorning his face, recognition widens his tired eyes. This man… It was the same man who he had helped up before.

Not knowing the elderly man's name, the cat hero only nods. The short man surveys him, eyes lingering a little bit on Tikki the ladybug, to Plagg and the green kwami, and finally, to Adrien's grieving eyes.

The man's eyes flare up knowingly.

"Come. You will rest."

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A renewed Adrien Agreste watches the city with awe.

Building lights are on, and below, his cat eyes can see the outlines of people walking-music drifts in the air, and his nose catches the scent of delicious street food. He can't remember how long it's been since Paris teemed with life.

Too long, that's for sure.

The days when Hawk Moth reigned with terror was over. It had taken all of Tikki's remaining energy to send Adrien's consciousness back to the past. Plagg had only nodded at Adrien, telling the kid that the Kwami would already recognize him. Today, Adrien had gone to see Master Fu and picked up Plagg earlier than Adrien had gotten him. A day earlier from Hawk Moth's first akumatized victim.

Hawk Moth.

" _Chaton..."_

He remembers her pain just before she fell. He gathers all the metal in his body and steels himself.

Because it wasn't going to happen this time around.

Not again.

Something dark stirs in Adrien's chest.

This time, Chat was ready-ready to pulverize a certain Moth Miraculous and the shooter.

Ready to kill Ladybug's murderer.

And this time, he would find her. He would unmask her. Cherish her more. Love her more.

He looks down at his clenched fist.

This time, he would save her.

He looks up into the skyline, and a bright fire ignites in his determined green eyes.

Hawk Moth better be ready, because this time-this time, there will be no mercy.

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So... How was it? How do you think this is gonna turn out? Any grammar and punctuation mistakes I should fix? Who is the man who shot Ladybug? Any guesses?


	3. Storms and Sentimentality

Summary: Ladybug dies in the final battle with Hawk Moth without Chat Noir ever knowing who she really is. The world is already plunged into darkness. As Adrien mourns in the chaos around him, Plagg and Tikki have already decided to use their last remaining powers to send Adrien's memories back in time. Armed with his new-found knowledge, Adrien sets out to save the world and his lady.

Warnings: Angsty (mostly in beginning), the story will get lighter. Some really off character people, and general chaos. Some parts are not accurate but were done on purpose (most of the time) to move the story along (like multiple akumas at a time), etc. For full list, visit Archive of Our Own and look for this story.

I would like to own Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir, but I don't. (sigh)

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Word count: 3, 906

Q & A:

Anna: Wait? He didn't know ladybug is marinette?

Yep, he has no idea who Ladybug is. In fact, you'll find in later chapters that he didn't even bother to ask Tikki or Fu who she is. You'll find out why. :)

Replies:

Thank you for all of your support! Melancholy's Sunshine-something happens that will totally change that! Trust me!

* * *

 **Chapter 3: Storms and Sentimentality**

 _Hours before Chapter 1's end scene._

Really, Fu had just settled into his tea and prepared for a long, relaxing afternoon. After all his hard work, he thought he deserved a little rest every now and then. Attending Miraculous councils for Guardians could be very long and tiring, and for older Guardians, deadly boring. Not that Fu was old, that's why he was definitely _not_ bored during meetings. One could even say that he was incredibly awake during meetings. For the most part. Hey, one hundred and eighty-six was still a very youthful age! But if sixteen-year-old babies could fall asleep in class, how did they expect the youthful hundreds to stay awake in council?

But yes, back to his tea.

"Fu!"

"Yes, Wayzz?" He doesn't hear the frightened cry that the green kwami stifles.

"Fu!" A clattering sound echoes in the room. That jolts Fu a little. He turns around to see that the gramophone storing the Miraculous has toppled over and was now laying on its side. He briefly wonders what the kwami had done now.

"Wayzz?" Fu wants to groan as he forces himself to stand up. If he was old, his back would be killing him and his knees would be holding revolts for putting so much pressure them. But Fu wasn't old. His back did not hurt, and his knees were completely _fine_.

"Fu!" The turtle kwami flies out of the gramophone head. "Something is coming! Something really big!"

And then the gramophone starts shaking.

 _What?!_

Just then, a big black vortex comes begins spinning from the head of the instrument. Harsh winds blow many of Fu's belongings flying off their porches. No, his collector's stash of Beyonce CDs! His babies! Fu dives just in time to catch the falling discs. He clutches them to his chest gently. He needs a place to keep them safe, but a maniacal chuckle shakes the Chinese man to the core and stops him in his tracks.

Uh oh.

Fu stiffens.

 _Mu ha ha!_

"Wayzz, what's going on?" The green kwami is gripping the man's shirt for dear life. What monstrosity would he have to face?

"I don't know! I was just napping when-!" Another strong gust hits the two, and Wayzz buries himself in the man's shirt. "Eep!"

Fu holds his ground from his place on the floor, gingerly using the wall to stand up. Whatever came out of the dark and stormy mini-tornado in his room was bound to be bad news for the council. He had to be prepared.

"Master Fu!" A huge, monstrous shadow begins to form within the storm.

It knows his name?

This really could be trouble.

"Wayzz, it's time to transform! Whatever is inside that massive darkness must be dangerous!" Fu gets ready to transform when a loud bang shakes the room. He plasters himself to the wall for dear life. What on the name of tea was going on?

A bright light coats the room, and blinds him. He cowers-his thoughts traitorously jumps back to one of his biggest regrets-he really should have just gone to Beyonce's concert when she was last in Paris. Now he was never going to see the star again.

His eyes bulge as a hulking shadow was clawing its way out the vortex. Even from afar, it towers over Fu and he bites back a whimper. Wayzz is now a shivering mess on his shoulder. They both close their eyes shut.

"Yo!"

What?

The storm dies out, gone as fast as it had come. Flying papers sway down unto the floor. At the center of everything, in place of where the dark mass used to be, was a tiny dark figure.

"Yo," the thing repeats again. "Got any Camembert, old man?"

"Plagg?!"

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"So… You're telling me that you're from the future and that your future miraculous holder is going to come pick you up."

"Uhuh." The cat kwami drawls, sniffing his cheddar and humming pleasantly. Fu hadn't stocked up on Camembert-he hadn't expected to host the black cat so soon. "And he's the coolest guy ever. Way cooler than ol' gramps over there-this guy actually has Camembert."

"Plagg…." Wayzz is shooting the cheese-obsessed kwami a skeptical look, which promptly morphs into annoyance. Water glinted on the floor, Fu's plants are strewed on the ground, and the table that the box of miraculous used to be was toppled over. "As exciting as it is that you're awake and delusional… What are you gonna do about the mess you made?"

The turtle kwami heatedly gestures to the cluttered room.

"Delusional?! Why, you-!" The black kwami gapes at Wayzz before the cat pouts, crossing his arms across his chest. "To think I was actually looking forward to seeing you ole turtle, too. Hmph."

Was it just his imagination, or was Wayzz starting to resemble an actual statue?

"W-who are you, and what have you done with Plagg?!"

For all of their sakes, Fu decides that it's his turn to converse now before the conversation turned choppy. He cuts off Wayzz, who was looking quite chastised, before the kwami could continue.

He needs to change the subject. Fast.

"Ah, yes. The tornado you came with. Mind explaining about that?" Fu coughs.

"I told you already. We came from the bleak future blah blah blah and came back to save the day." Plagg huffs, "Your old wrinkly self even helped us."

Fu merely raises an eyebrow.

"If you don't trust me, then wait until tomorrow. A guy named Hawk Moth's gonna start wreaking havoc." Plagg puts his hands on his hips and challenges.

Sigh. It wasn't that Fu didn't want to believe the kwami of destruction-there was just no way that could happen. Time travel was something no kwami was capable of. Slowing down time, speeding up time, or stopping time-yes. But to _go back_ in time? Impossible… Right?

"Gah! How else would you explain this, then?" Plag looks pointedly at the destruction around him.

"You had a nightmare, maybe?"

The black kwami guffaws in the air. "A nightmare?"

Fu blushes. Alright, maybe that was a bit as outlandish as time travel, but can anyone really blame him? Nothing else made sense.

"How else were we supposed to explain your entrance, then?" Wayzz rushes to defend Fu.

"I do not know—time travel maybe?"

"For the last time, Plagg—kwamis don't have the ability to travel through time. It's impossi-"

"PLAAAAAAAAAAG!"

A shout jolts them out of their conversation. Fu can hear heavy footsteps running down the hall.

"Plagg!"

The door bursts open, and there stands a young man, still in his teens. His blonde hair is a mess, and he is gulping air like a thirsty man would chug water. He leans on the door frame, green eyes frantically searching the room for something. Fu and Wayzz just stands there for a moment, both wondering how this strangely familiar boy could possibly know Plagg's name. They wonder, of course, until Fu realizes that the boy shouldn't even know about Plagg. And that the kwamis were both _in sight_ of the young man. Oh no…

Just as Fu is about to have a mini-mental breakdown-oh, he was in _so_ much trouble-and Wayzz was in the process of becoming a toy, Plagg brightens up.

"Kid!" The black kwami greets the boy warmly-at the very least, the cat kwami's version of warmly-which meant that Plagg hit 'Kid' at the speed he was flying in the face then roughly messed up the blonde's already tousled hair. "I told you it would work!"

"It worked! It worked!" 'Kid' laughs in jubilation despite the painful-looking red spot on his forehead when the cat kwami slammed into him. The boy grabs Plagg and twirls the kwami around. "We went back in time!"

 _Went back in time?!_

Fu and Wayzz chokes. Time travel?

Plagg seems to remember them then as he turns to face the guardian and the turtle kwami with the smuggest smirk.

"Still don't believe in time-travel? This is my proof!" The kwami points to 'Kid'. The boy looks like he just noticed that Fu was there-and Fu is not offended mostly because the job of a guardian is to unnoticed, and grins.

"Master Fu!" 'Kid' steps forward and snatches Fu's hands. "Thank you for everything! I promise that I will do everything in my power as Chat Noir to destroy Hawk Moth."

Fu studies the boy in front of him. He doesn't know who Hawk Moth is, doesn't even know the teenager in front of him. Plagg and the kid knew each other, and both claimed to have cheated time. If Plagg and this boy really did come from the future, then Fu wasn't sure he wanted to know what horror had to happen to make even kwamis desperate enough to disobey time. As he observes, he catches something in the boy's green eyes that drops a heavy boulder in his stomach.

There was a familiar burning in them-flames so bright it dwarfed the darkness lurking within. Fu admired fire-usually-after all, it provided warmth and light. Yet, too strong a flame and it would burn and kill instead of nurture. That had been something every Chat Noir had eventually adapted, especially when they were determined to protect their Ladybugs. That, out of all the evidence, is what convinces Fu that this really is the chosen Chat Noir of this time.

Time travel. _Wow_.

Fu decides to take all of this in stride.

"I'm afraid you have me at a disadvantage," Fu starts, "I do not believe I have met you before."

The boy's eyes widens-and Fu can't help but chuckle at the comical expression. Looking at the kid now, he wouldn't have known that this was one of Paris' future heroes.

"Hehe, sorry." A hand goes to scratch the back of the blonde's head apologetically, and the kid becomes sheepish. "I'm Adrien-Adrien Agreste, Chat Noir starting tomorrow."

 _Adrien Agreste?_

The fashion model?

The boy who has his face on billboards all over the world?

 _He_ was Chat Noir?

Wait.

Starting **tomorrow**?

Fu's eyebrows shot up as he wonders how that came to be. Could it be that Hawk Moth guy that Plagg and Agreste kept mentioning? Adrien stares at him expectantly from the door, and Fu suddenly realizes that he has left the boy standing in front of an _open_ door. Where anyone could be looking in.

Fu hastily beckons the boy in. He finds the boy a clean spot among the dirt-strewn floor to sit on his knees.

"Welcome, Adrien Agreste," Fu's eyes twinkle as he sets up another teapot. "I would tell you who I am, but it seems like my future self's already beaten me to it."

When he comes back to the living room carrying freshly brewed tea a few minutes later, it is to the sight of Plagg lounging on air. Wayzz has taken to fixing whatever he can, Adrien the turtle kwami with heavier things.

Being the only one not doing work, Plagg is the first one to notice that Fu is back.

"Oi, old man! You should give Adrien the ring now," Plagg flies to the gramophone containing the all the Miraculous on the floor, and sits on it. The kwami slouches. "You know, since he's this time's Chat Noir."

Fu only hums. He needs to talk to the boy first. The sun rays had begun to retreat from the window. The sky paints itself darker and stars begin to dot the edges of the infinite heavens. It's getting late, and he knows he can't keep Adrien here all night to explain everything. Fu has no plans to do that.

He only wants make sure of one thing.

"So… Any questions you wanna ask me?" Adrien makes himself comfortable next to the Chinese man after most of the mess on the floor and around the room was fixed. Fu eyes the neat stack of CD cases arranged on top of the drawer-his Beyonce collection was all safe and cared for.

It seems his future self had chosen wisely.

"The future carries many secrets that are best kept as surprises." He concludes. "It's best not to know too much lest I change too much."

The boy looks like he wants to point out that he was back in the past just so he could make changes. Fu replies to the unvoiced thought.

"Whether you want to let time move the way it did before or not, any changes you make to the timeline must be done by you intentionally. Simply me knowing what I could change myself might destroy a significant moment in history; I might accidentally ruin your goals."

The model takes this all with great concentration.

"I accept that you are the future Chat Noir," Fu concedes after a while of nobody speaking. The kwamis haven't uttered a word either. "The loyalty of a kwami cannot be faked." Here, Adrien looks positively relieved and opens his mouth to say something. But before the boy could speak what was on his mind, Fu forges on. "And I will not ask how you and Plagg managed to go back in time. Like I have said, there are things even I should not know."

Adrien silently agrees.

"However, forgive me, there is something I would like to know."

Ladybug. Did she come back in time, too? Should Fu and Wayzz be preparing for another time traveling red tornado that Tikki, Ladybug's kwami, would pop out of like Plagg? Fu expects Chat to say yes-after all, Ladybug and Chat Noir were always inseparable. The Guardian cannot imagine them ever parting for one job. If Chat was here, then surely, Ladybug had come back, too.

"If you are here, does that mean that future Ladybug is here, too?"

…

 _..._

Almost immediately, Fu regrets even thinking about asking.

The air grows chilly. He can sense an ominous heaviness that wasn't there before. Or maybe it had always been there, and Fu hadn't felt it at the time. The Guardian's eyes narrow in speculation as the boy next to him tenses. His gaze slides to the gramophone-Plagg had gone ramrod straight.

Wayzz and Fu shares a look.

Hmm…

"Is there anything I should know?"

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Adrien isn't sure how he made it out of there alive. He wants to transform back into Chat Noir and apologize for his rude departure from the guardian's home. He would have done it, too-grovelled for his insolence and apologized to the man who had become his grandfatherly figure-if the sight of Paris filled with life hadn't knocked out all his thoughts. It had been so different from what he had become used to under Hawk Moth's army of akumas that he couldn't help but swear his revenge on Hawk Moth on the spot.

Adrien's nose flares. That murderer.

Control, he tells himself. _Breathe._

He closes his eyes in the darkness and concentrates on the ring, breathing in a slow, deep rhythm. His chest heaves up and down slowly.

A few moments pass in blissful silence.

"You know, kid. You should have just told old man Fu the truth."

Adrien sighs.

"I know, Plagg." Adrien presses his forehead against the glass window. "It's just-I just can't."

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Plagg develops a frown but doesn't press further. He knows how hard it had been for the teenager to recover after Ladybug's death. Watching the boy's pained expression, the kwami isn't even sure anymore if Adrien did recover at all.

His boy was suffering, and it bothers him that he can't help. Even though Plagg has lived for thousands of years, there had never been a time when a Ladybug had died earlier than a Chat Noir. The lovesick fools had always thrown their bugs out of harm's way even if it killed them in the end.

Not that the kwami was blaming Adrien for being the first Chat Noir to live longer than Ladybug in battle-Plagg knows he won't survive losing another one after a long while, especially a Chat so young. Looking at Chat now, he can't help but silently curse the villainous Hawk Moth-that man would deserve whatever was coming his way. Nooroo, too, even if he knew that it really wasn't the butterfly kwami's fault that he was being used for evil.

Gah! All this thinking had got to be enough to burn through eight wheels of delicious, divine-smelling Camembert.

The cat kwami can only hope that seeing the Ladybug of this time well and alive would heal the boy.

"Plagg…"

"Hmmm?"

Adrien doesn't say anything and looks lost in his own dark thoughts. Plagg waits for him to speak up impatiently. Or not wait at all.

"Kid?" The kwami prompts.

Adrien gulps, his eyebrows furrowed in concentration. "What do I do now? Do I change time completely? Do I try to stick to the old time as much as possible?"

Huh. That's true. Tikki, Fu, and Wayzz had rushed Adrien and Plagg through the ritual as soon as they had a legitimate chance of going back. There really hadn't been much time left-the winged bastard hadn't stopped attacking Fu's barriers as soon as he had found out where Chat Noir had run off to. In the end, Tikki had decided that her strength was better used helping Plagg and Adrien make it through three year's worth of time. She didn't come back with them.

"That's up to you kid." Plag decides that there really wasn't any harm letting Adrien change as much or as little as he wanted to. Up till the surprise attack, there hadn't been anything besides plotless akuma fights.

"Whether I want to let time move the way it did before or not, any changes I make to the timeline must be done by me intentionally…" Adrien whispers. Where did that come from? Why did those words sound so familiar?

" _Whether you want to let time move the way it did before or not, any changes you make to the timeline must be done by you intentionally."_

Fu! Ol' man Fu had said it to Adrien when the model had come up to pick Plagg up! Rubbing his nonexistent eyebrows in irritation. Although the man had meant well, he was only adding to Adrien's anxiety.

Before Plagg can advise Chat to ignore the Guardian, his cat ears pick up on the light _clip-clop_ of approaching heels.

 _Damn it!_

Plag dives under the pillows.

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Gabriel Agreste doesn't know what has come over his son today. He had blown up out of worry when Nathalie had swung by earlier in the afternoon to inform him that his son was missing.

" _Missing? How can he be missing?"_

" _We are not sure, sir. We were driving home after the photo shoot when Adrien suddenly ran out of the car."_

Nathalie knocks on his son's door.

"Adrien? Your father wants to talk to you." Nathalie warns his son that they were coming in as she opens the door.

And there was his son, laying his head against the window with his back turned to them. Gabriel silently gestures for his assistant to leave. Nathalie furrows her brow as if she wants to ask if she could stay, and he merely raises his eyebrow at the small act of defiance. She lowers her head and reluctantly walks out, closing the door behind her.

"Adrien."

"Father." It irks him that his son merely sounds tired and not apologetic. Adrien doesn't make any move to acknowledge his father's presence. What was this attitude?

"Turn around, and stop slouching." Gabriel snaps. "I've taught you better than to act like the plebeians down the street." The famous fashion designer is ready to set his son straight, but his harsh words get stuck in his throat when Adrien turns around to face him.

His son's eyes- _-_ they were haunted, in a way that sent chills of horror running down the stoic man's back. They looked _just like his own_ did days after she had gone missing.

It freezes Gabriel, and, for a second-he is back in their own dark, cold, master's bedroom that very first night she was gone. Without her bright presence, the warmth had left. As he stared at the empty bed that was way too big for one person, the father feels ice settling deep within his chest, he feels his own heart freezing. He climbs on the bed, alone. He can feel her ghost behind him- _Gabriel, what's wrong?_ Soft, fragile hands would gently sling around his neck, and her head rests on his back. _Gab, honey?_ But when he opens his eyes, she's gone gone gone gone.

 _I love you._

"Yes, father."

And then he is back in his son's room.

Gabriel inhales sharply. The fashion designer is momentarily disoriented.

Steady, steady.

Bright green eyes sparkled behind golden lashes. _Yes! Yes! YES! I'll marry you, you dorky man! What even took you so long to ask?_

He inwardly chokes.

Bah! Foolish sentimentality.

Those days were long past. Gabriel was over it. He had his work, he had his son-he didn't need anyone or anything else.

What was he saying? What were they talking about? Right, his son's eyes. No. Adrien's dangerous escape from his bodyguards. Right. Focus, focus, focus, Agreste!

His son isn't looking at him, and somewhere deep inside, his frozen heart twinges in pain-even more than usual. Help him, a quiet voice whispers in his head. Ask him what's wrong. _Do something!_ Stop. He wasn't her, he couldn't just sit down with his son, pat his head and comfort him! Gabriel has no need for these emotions. He stomps them down to ashes in his head. He needs to get out. Now.

"I don't want you running around Paris anymore without your bodyguards." He needs to say more, but the words refused to come out. He needs to escape, out of here-anywhere but here. Gabriel doesn't want to admit it, but he feels like he is running away. Stop that senseless thought! He merely has nothing else to say. He is not fleeing. Not at all.

He hears his son sigh as he walks out of his room, and resists the temptation to walk back in, and tell Adrien that his father was here for him. Of course, Gabriel was here for him. Just that he was busy. Very busy. Everyday.

Busy. Right.

Outside, Nathalie is standing studiously on the side.

"Sir?"

"Cancel all my workload tonight, Nathalie." Gabriel walks briskly to his room. "I'm going to bed early."

"Yes, sir."

WIth that, he leaves her behind. He reaches his quarters in no time but pauses as he turns the door knob. He suddenly feels like backing out. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all.

…

...

Gabriel Agreste walks alone into his- _their-_ big, empty bedroom.

* * *

I know, I know! It's really weird! Gabriel cares, Fu and Wayzz are absolutely lost, Adrien is still in sorrow's hold, and Plagg has no idea what to do. What do you think? Is Gabriel Agreste a bad father with the best intentions, or a bad father with the worst intentions? I've always felt that he was just going about things the wrong way.

What do you think is gonna happen next? Any special scenes you might want to see in the next chapter?


End file.
